LOVE

It's always difficult to be away from your spouse for an extended period of time. But it's always wonderful when you reunite and get to live day in and day out together and be reminded of all the reasons why you chose each other in the first place.

There are people in your life, that the minute you meet them, you know they are destined to be a part of your life. I'm so lucky to have found that person...

TAG! I'M IT!!

Mary Helen, as I so lovingly call her, over at SuperMom tagged me for a meme. This meme is to consist of six random things about myself, so here it goes:

I HAVE to eat chips every day when I get home while cooking dinner. I get really, really, r-e-a-l-l-y upset if someone eats all the chips and I come home to nada!! I am starving by the time I walk in the door and I am super grumpy if I don't get a snack.

I do not keep ketchup in the fridge. I hate cold ketchup and my family uses it enough that it never has a chance to go bad. Most of my friends give me hard time about it...but they always remember to put it in the pantry and not the FRIDGE!

I always count the strokes as I shave my legs...don't really have any clue why...i just do.

I met Robert Van Winkle AKA Vanilla Ice at a boat show at Dallas Market Hall a few years ago. David kept singing "Dyess, Dyess Baby!" really load. Totally David. **And Mary Helen and I met William Hung on a girls weekend trip to California. Yes, we took pics with him!!

I believe that Snickers candy bars heal heartburn.

**And one more because I mentioned it above...if I know your birth name, I will most certainly call you by it and not your "nick" name. Example: Mary Helen-who typically goes by Helen. So, if you are using my phone to call her, you have to look under the "M's" not the "H's".

I would love to tag more people, but I have no more blogging friends. A lot of the people that read my blog have either already been tagged or they don't blog. Sorry guys. I'm really boring these days with my hubby home!! (WINK!)

Hope you discovered something new about me.

Kids Birthdays and update...

Ashlyn turned 9 in August and Bailey turned 11 at the beginning of September. Daylee and Jordan share the same birthday in September and they are now 12 and 18. I missed the first day of school. (I was in Chicago) I think it was way more disappointing for me than it was for them. Libby took pics of the first day so I can post those later...maybe!!


We have been so busy since David got home. No, not running around seeing dear old friends and catching up with family. Not at all...we've been working!!

Since I took a week and a half off to go see him in Chicago I decided it would be best to spread out the rest of my days off with my work schedule. While I've been at work, David has pulled the oleanders out of the front yard since they are very toxic to children and pets. He has completely ripped out our fence and has started to build a new one.

Picket by picket.

He has worked in the yard and...last weekend we had 5 of our 6 kids. This was the first time he has seen Daylee and Dacie since Christmas so he vowed to do nothing but enjoy our children. On Saturday we added two more little girls to the mix so that made 7. David took us all to the park to feed the ducks and let the kids burn off some energy.

Those kids had a-lot-of-energy...

I have pics of everything I mentioned-so those will come later. (I promise!!..well, maybe.)

Baluga whales

Our favorite exhibit. You can go below the floor and view the whales thru windows. It's pretty amazing to watch them like you're swimming with them!!

Shedd Aquarium

Here are some random shots at the Shedd Aquarium. It was a ton of fun for me and Dayden enjoyed most of it. David was ready to go before we even got there because you have to pay for parking EVERYWHERE you go in Chicago. So $20 later and a long haul to the aquarium he felt a lil better that Dayden was free and so was he with his military ID!! (Seriously--EVERYWHERE! He went in to Harley Davidson to buy his dad a shirt and did it in under 7 minutes...otherwise parking would have cost more than the shirt!)

Flower Garden

Here are some pictures of a local flower garden near the Westin hotel where we spent the first 3 days while in Chicago...

The area was very beautiful. The weather was perfect and in the low to mid 80's each day. There were flowers like this all over the city.

Pics

More Navy Pier

Navy Pier

More reunion pics

A huge thanks to my mom for taking pictures. There is no way I would have been able to capture all of this on my own.

The last one is my favorite...

THE TIME HAS COME!!!

Finally the announcement we had all been waiting for. I can only equate the cheering to a rock concert and the big act has just taken stage. There were tears, chanting, yelling, and cheering as the curtains opened and our heroes walked in. They marched in, in formation, and the crowd went nuts!! Dayden was none to pleased with the noise. I immediately found David as he was standing out in front of the Marines. The funny thing is, all I could see was the back of his head. From the bottom of his cover to the top of his collar. I knew immediately it was my Marine. He made an about face, and while waiting for dismissal, our eyes locked and that was all she wrote.

I cannot begin to describe the feeling one has when the love of your life returns from war. You spend day after day praying for their safe return. You push away the most unthinkable thoughts and you dream/daydream of the moment you are reunited and you can finally take a long, deep breathe.

Dayden Michaela was immediately in love with her daddy all over again. She hugged him so big. It was as if he was never away. He has missed 1/2 of her life, and yet you would have never known it by the way she embraced him. We feared she may not be too receptive. But, being the lil angel she is, she checked him out like a momma monkey grooming her young. She checked his hair, made sure he had both ears, grabbed his face with both hands and gave him the most loving looks you can imagine a daughter has for her father. She didn't let him go. Daddy was finally home...

(click on the picture for a better view-i don't have the ability to re size or edit photos right now)

ALMOST TIME

The only way Mommy could dressed...

Hanging the banner.

Showing off her new toy!

The reunion was held at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, IL. SgtMjr Carter sent a car for us and we were picked up at the hotel and driven to the arena. We arrived fairly early as we were told there would be many, many people. Each Marine was allowed 4 people on the arena floor. There were over 300 Marines that were returning to Chicago. About 1/3 of the number that were deployed together. (don't quote me on the numbers-not official) After what felt like hours and hours of anticipation, we were informed that one of the buses bringing the Marines in from Midway airport had broken down. (OMG! Are you kidding me?) So with an escort from the state police and the motorcycle vets, the freeway was literally shut down while the bus was repaired and the Marines were once again on their way. At this point Dayden had been just as good as she could be-so I broke out the DVD player. You would be amazed at the number of children who were suddenly quiet.

On the way there...

Checking out the airplane.





I would kiss the person who invented the portable DVD player. This little contraption entertained her for the entire flight.

We were quite the sight. I had luggage hanging off me, a backpack hanging off me, I was pushing Dayden in her umbrella stroller and one of my arms entangled in her car seat. Mom had my bag (which weighed in at a whoppin' 64 lbs) and her luggage as well. Once we completed the self service check-in we had to check my one big suitcase. We were determined not to check anything else because paying for checked luggage is just plain wrong. Well, once I was told I had to either a) remove at least 10 lbs or, b) pay $50 extra dollars, I somehow found room in my carry ons. The gentleman at the counter was very kind, and waited patiently as I rearranged my way too many items.
Security was just a nasty nightmare. Thankfully some kind woman working security noticed I had a child in a stroller and informed me I could go thru a designated line-for strollers-which in my haste to get this trip started I completely missed. Can you say NIGHTMARE? I felt like what cows must go thru when being herded into a trailer. Constant yelling and tons of pressure. People just stared liked they had never seen a woman and child go thru security at the airport before. Jesus, Mary and Joseph!!
Once we made it thru we had to walk a bizzillion miles to our gate. Thankfully a couple was headed the same direction and saw the calamity that one man said was "quite entertaining" and offered to carry some of our bags and made the long haul to our gate much easier. (Shall I simply say that I spouted to the "one man", as he laughed and passed us up with his nice suit and little bitty girly bag, "chivlary is dead". My husband would never, ever just pass by without helping anyone in my situation.) Anyway, the couple was extremely nice and Dayden talked and talked to them the whole way to our gate.

Happy Anniversary

David and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary on the 22nd of August. While we didn't get to celebrate it together-we were thrilled we would see each the next day for the first time in over 8 months! (and we made up for it ;-D)

I'm not going to go all mushy on ya. I have dealt with such a range of emotions lately that I'm keeping things simple...

I love my husband more and more with each passing day. He tells me daily how much he loves me, how beautiful I am, and how happy he is to be my husband. He doesn't ask for much and would move the world for me...who could ask for more??

I'M BACK!!!

Wow!! Has it already been a week and a half? Time flies when you're having fun!!!

David's welcome home celebration was incredible. He is in good health and good spirits. Our time FLEW by and we have another week apart before he will be home...as in home-home. As in...in Texas, in our house, home-home. I have lots to blog about and some pictures to go along so I'll get started on those soon. I will have to go back to about the 22nd of Aug and catch up-so hang in there-you may be inundated with info!!

I must unpack the rest of my stuff now and in David's words: grab some chow, make a head call and hit the rack. (Man, I don't know how Devin travels with young kids...I'm D-U-N with hotel living for a while!)